Ottawa’s Kate Miller clinches Olympic diving berth at FINA World Championships

By Dan Plouffe

Ottawa’s Kate Miller and Calgary’s Caeli McKay finished in sixth place in the women’s 10-metre platform synchronized diving event at the FINA World Aquatics Championships today in Doha, Qatar to clinch an Olympic berth for their country at this summer’s Paris 2024 Games.

Miller and McKay finished just over nine points clear of Germany for the fourth and final available Olympic qualification position (champion China and bronze-medallist Great Britain had already booked their tickets), with a total score of 287.34.

The Canadians’ third of five dives – an inward 3-and-a-half somersault tuck – was the key to lift them into Olympic qualifying position. They ranked fifth on that dive as well as the next one – their most difficult – and their last dive was solid enough to get Canada a ticket to Paris.

Miller put her plans to attend the University of Southern California on hold to pursue an Olympic berth with McKay. The 18-year-old Nepean-Ottawa Diving Club product moved to Montreal last year to setup shop at the national team’s training home at Olympic Stadium.

Earlier this season, Miller and McKay won a silver medal at October’s Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile.

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“Consistency was definitely the key,” Miller said at that time in an interview with High Achievers columnist Martin Cleary. “It’s what we have been working on. Hopefully, as the months go by we’ll be more consistent.”

Look for more detailed coverage on OttawaSportsPages.ca in the coming days.